Well that was the idea which No.2 had at the beginning of ‘The Chimes of Big Ben.’ The exact same idea as one of his predecessors -Number TWO of ‘Arrival,’ who carried out the debriefing of the Prisoner on the morning of his arrival in the village. No.2 thought that if he could get the Prisoner to voluntarily give the time of his birth, to answer one simple question in fact, that the rest would then follow.
No.2 "One likes to know everything, for instance I had no idea that you liked lemon tea."
The Prisoner, looking at a page in his file: "The time of my birth is missing."
No.2: "Well there you are, now lets bring it all up to date."
The Prisoner: "4.31 am 19th of march 1928, I've nothing to say, is that clear... absolutely nothing!"
No.2: "Now be reasonable old boy, it's just a matter of time. Sooner or later you'll tell me, sooner or later you'll want to. Lets make a deal, you co-operate, tell us what we want to know. This can be a very nice place, you may even be given a position of authority."
The Prisoner: "I will not make any deals with you, I've resigned. I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered. My life is my own."
No.2 "Is it?"
The Prisoner: "Yes, you won't hold me.
It was a nice idea of No.2's, but it was as successful for him, as it would be for his successor two No.2 of ‘The Chimes of Big Ben.’
I'll be seeing you.
The scene has a dream-like quality (get away!) with the images No6 sees in the file immediately being projected on No2's screen.
ReplyDeleteHas the Village also got the drop on 'Virtual Reality'?
BCNU. );oB
Hello Steve,
ReplyDeleteQuite possibly. But the Prisoner can never win, even when he works through his personal file from back to front, against those shown on the wall screen.
Regards
David
BCNU